Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has emphasised that the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the INF treaty will not go without an effective response.

Iran Press/Europe: Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Twitter on Saturday: "The Russian government will allocate required funds for research and technological development (R&D) and for the development of new weapons following the United States’ withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).

According to Russia's Tass news agency, Medvedev tweeted: "The unilateral and totally unprovoked withdrawal of the United States from the INF treaty aggravates the situation in the field of global security and strategic stability".

"This will not be left without an effective response," he warned.

"Taking into consideration the US withdrawal from the INF Treaty and a response in kind announced by the president of Russia, the Russian government will be considering required means and mechanisms to fund R&D and the development of new weapons," Medvedev stressed.

The Donald Trump administration has signalled for months that it wants to end the agreement covering ground-based nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, which the US accuses Moscow of violating since 2014.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said that Washington would suspend its liabilities under the INF Treaty starting February 2 and would quit it within six months if Russia did not come into compliance with the agreement.

The Donald Trump administration has signaled for months that it wants to end the agreement covering ground-based nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, which the US accuses Moscow of violating since 2014.

Russia has said it is not violating the treaty and that its 9M729 missile has a range of less than 500 kilometers (311 miles). But in recent weeks, Russian officials have said they are certain the US would withdraw from the treaty.

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